After decades, case is solved, but pain remains

They waited nearly 30 years to hold someone accountable for the rape and murder of a beloved sister and aunt.

But Verna Hartman and David B. Rupp said the hole torn in their family by a serial killer all those years ago can never be filled.

Timothy W. Krajcir, 63, admitted Friday in Berks County Court that he strangled Myrtle Rupp, 51, in her home in the 4400 block of Fifth Avenue, Muhlenberg Township, on April 17, 1979.

Judge Linda K.M. Ludgate ordered Krajcir to serve a life sentence in an Illinois maximum security prison, where he already is serving numerous consecutive life sentences for eight other murders in Illinois, Missouri and Kansas.

After the sentencing, Hartman, 69, of Cumru Township, said she and her sister used to go Christmas shopping every year but always ended up doing more talking than buying.

The shopping trips were on odd days because they both were nurses who often worked weekends, she said.

"We went to lunch and talked for three hours," Hartman said. "I have to say that’s probably what I miss the most."

"We did a lot of visiting in those days," said Rupp, 57, of Alsace Township. "People don’t do that anymore."

One of the most difficult things to accept, Hartman said, is that Myrtle, a widow, had been afraid living alone, especially after Krajcir broke into her house the week before she was murdered.

Krajcir admitted he was in the house waiting to sexually assault her but was scared off when he heard two people talking as they entered the house.

The other voice was that of their mother, the late Ellie Aungst, Hartman said.

Krajcir also admitted he used a fake police badge and the break-in as a ruse to get Rupp to allow him into her house.

Hartman and Rupp disagree on whether life imprisonment was a harsh enough sentence for a man who robbed the community of a dedicated nursing supervisor and an aunt who, with no children of her own, doted on nine nieces and nephews.

Because of her religion, Hartman said, she believes taking one life for another through the death penalty is wrong.

"I don’t forgive because of him, but because it lets me let go of it," she said. "If I get angry with him, it destroys the rest of my life."

Rupp said the death penalty was enacted for men such as Krajcir who have no regard for human life.

"This guy knew what he was doing," he said. "His pattern was to strike, and then get out of the area. Without modern DNA technology, they would never have caught him. He has no redeeming qualities."

Hartman and Rupp said they are grateful to state police Cpl. William J. Moyer, a cold-case investigator, and District Attorney John T. Adams and his staff for not giving up on a murder that has haunted them.